Hockey Punjab wins fourth Senior National championship

CHENNAI: Harmanpreet Singh capped off a remarkable tournament by leading Punjab to its fourth Senior National Hockey Championship victory, triumphing over Haryana 9-8 in a shoot-out here in Chennai on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Harmanpreet guided Team India to gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games, thus securing India’s qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He also led India to Asian Champions Trophy victory against Malaysia by scoring in the final here in Chennai.

Despite Haryana's early dominance, with its first Penalty Corner (PC) in the 8th minute, Punjab's Pathak Bahadur thwarted Sanjay's attempt, who indeed had a busy day in-front of the sticks for Punjab.

In the 13th minute, Harjeet Singh's precise shot in the bottom corner gave Punjab the lead going into the second quarter. However, Haryana made the best of its second PC of the match and this time Sanjay made no mistake to level scores heading into half-time.

Captain Harmanpreet, known for his prowess in converting PCs with powerful shots, secured the upper hand for Punjab in the 42nd minute, capitalizing on Akashdeep's push from the end line. In the dying seconds of the third quarter, Pradeep Singh's shot was stopped by Pawan, maintaining the intensity.

Punjab got another PC in the fourth quarter which they couldn’t convert and Haryana's Mukul Sharma's shot rebounded to Deepak, who fed it to Rajant, who levelled the score at 2-2 with 10 minutes left in regulation time.

The shoot-out unfolded with drama and chaos. Abhishek, National team forward, criticised the referee’s decision post-match, speaking to DT Next, claiming unfairness in calling off one of Haryana’s shots in the shoot-out.

The penalty shoot-out was a lengthy affair that extended to sudden death, as both Akashdeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh missed for Punjab while Rajant and Yashdeep Siwach missed for Haryana.

In the first sudden-death set, almost every player from both sides successfully converted their shots. However, in the second set Harmanpreet missed the eight-second timer when he took the shot, and was ruled as ‘no goal,’ giving Haryana an advantage. Abhishek stepped up for Haryana but his take was ruled out due to an infringement, and his teammate Joginder Singh's attempt was also called a 'no goal.' Simranjeet Singh, next for Punjab, eventually scored after he had to retake his shot. In the decider, Sanjay couldn't convert, securing the National title for Punjab, which it last won in 2021. Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports in TN, Udhayanidhi Stalin handed the championship title to Hockey Punjab.

Pitchside after the match, Harmanpreet expressed joy, stating, “I feel happy; it's time to celebrate this win. The boys worked hard for this.”

This year witnessed a significant number of Senior National team players representing their states in the Nationals, when questioned if fans can expect a similar turnout next year, Bhola Nath Singh, Secretary General of Hockey India, said, “Hockey India will definitely request the board next year as well to conduct Nationals at a time where it doesn’t clash with the schedule or camps of the Indian hockey team so that many senior players can come take part in the National championship.”